Plants and Animals

Plants and Animals have been playing together for 10 years. They began as an instrumental group. They recorded a self-titled record in 2002 with 15-minute songs. They played around Montreal for years, no vocals, heavy on the improvising. Warren started singing with other people, and soon enough he just couldn’t contain himself. Silence became oooohs, oooohs became words.

In 2008, a project two years in the making became Parc Avenue and they stepped out onto the circuit for the first time. It had guitars and drums and vocals, and orchestration out the wazoo. It was nominated for one Polaris prize, two Junos and three GAMIQs. They opened for Grizzly Bear in Montreal, and did their first tour with Wolf Parade. Danger Mouse got his paws on it and invited them to open for Gnarls Barkley, and later Broken Bells. The National invited them to open for them in Central Park. They headlined stages across North America and Europe.

In 2010, they released La La Land, a heavier, darker departure from Parc Avenue that has become a veritable cult favourite. They played over 100 shows that year, including a long US tour with Frightened Rabbit. To the Pitchfork Festival appearance the summer before, they added to the list such notables as Primavera in Barcelona, Bumbershoot in Seattle, End of the Road in the English countryside, a marquee spot at the Montreal Jazz Festival, and many more.

In 2012, they released "The End of That" and the band has been touring ever since.

According to Woodley, this followup to 2012’s gritty live-off-the-floor project The End of That will be more groove-based and employ more of the studio wizardry of Parc Avenue and La La Land.

“We’re kind of staying under the radar,” he says. “We got invited to play Paddlefest in St. Andrews, N.B., on Saturday and thought that since we were coming out this way, it was high time that we played at home.”

The motto is as true for competitive runners as it was for Montreal-based indie rock band Plants and Animals when they decided the best method of creating their next album.

According to drummer and vocalist Matthew Woodley, the boys are taking on a slower pace; spending time getting their work in while also making sure to build something of substance prior to stepping up to the start line and letting it all go.

Plants and Animals are pleased to announce their 2013 Fall Tour, which sees them playing shows in Canada and the northeastern US. The tour kicks-off with a special show at Breakglass studio during Pop Montreal and includes a two-night stand in Kingston, Ontario at the Grad Club, stops in Edmonton, Ottawa, Buffalo, Portland, Maine and wraps up in Burlington, Vermont. A full itinerary is below.

Just in time for spring, Plants and Animals are thrilled to be releasing their latest album, "The End of That" in France on April 3rd via Secret City. The band will be headed to France to support the release on a headlining tour. Support acts include Half Moon Run, Marie-Pierre Arthur and Rich Aucoin.

Following their hugely successful show in July 2012 at Nouveau Casino in Paris, Plants and Animals blew away the French delegation at last year’s FME. Notable outlet Libération heralded their set, stating that Plants and Animals "won the medal" for the best performance at the festival. And this month’s issue of Rolling Stone France has a full page dedicated to the band.

Plants and Animals have announced their fall tour schedule that focuses heavily on tour dates across Canada. They also today released a cover of Malajube’s “Etienne D’aout” which was recorded live at Pop Montreal in 2011. The cover is taken from the same “Live at Breakglass” performance that yielded their cover of Wolf Parade’s ”I’ll Believe in Anything” earlier this year.

Plants and Animals have a couple more festival stops on their itinerary before the end of August, including appearances at Squamish in BC and FME in Rouyn-Noranda. The band plays a handful of shows in Canada in the US through September and October before starting the bulk of the Canadian tour on Halloween in Victoria. Full details after the jump.

We know you are all heading down to Parc Jean-Drapeau for Osheaga this weekend, so make sure you don't miss Plants and Animals on Saturday August 4th playing at 3:45PM on the River stage presented by Virgin Mobile!

Plants and Animals kick-off their summer schedule in earnest tomorrow starting with a big free outdoor show in Toronto at Yonge and Dundas Square as part of the annual NXNE Festival. To mark the start of their summer tour they’ve released a video for the short-but-sweet “H.C.” from The End of That, released in February this year. In this animated short/music video, director Aimée van Drimmelen employs hand drawn imagery and looped Super 8 footage. Click here to watch the video.

Plants and Animals will be hitting a few select festivals in Canada this summer, including repping their native Montreal at Osheaga in August, as well as appearances at Squamish in BC, the Ottawa Blues Fest, and more. They’ll also follow up their NXNE set with an appearance at Montreal’s Folk Fest on the Canal this coming Saturday. In addition to select Canadian dates the band will also return to the US for a brief stint in the northeast supporting Bombay Bicycle Club. Full details after the jump: